LabVIEW as a general-purpose programming tool

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

...String processing in Labview tends to give me headaches, for instance.

That seems odd to me. The string functions I use in LabVIEW are pretty much the same as the ones I use in C.

Fundamentally, though, my frustration is that learning Labview doesn't really prepare you for learning any other programming languages. Which is fine if all you'll ever use is labview. But I know one of my strengths is the ability to quickly assimilate new structured text programming languages.

Learning any one language paradigm doesn't really prepare you for learning another, agreed. However, it's been said that the most important programming language to learn is your second one.

So, if you wanted to summarize my main concern with Labview, it's that the vast majority of other programming languages out there just aren't block diagram, dataflow languages. If I have the option, I'd really rather prepare my programming students for the kind of languages they're likely to encounter later in their careers. This isn't always an option, but it's my preferred one.

I felt pretty much as you do before I got comfortable with dataflow programming. Now, though, I think there's a lot to be said for learning to program using a system that makes it virtually impossible to have syntax errors. In an ideal world, of course, students studying to become professional programmers would learn many ways to do things, and they'd learn how to choose a language to fit the situation.

I note that the robotics students I've met having a desire to work with the software tend already to be using text-based procedural languages. Teaching them to program FRC robots using LabVIEW doesn't deprive them of that background.